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Sydney's Royal national park still closed after bushfire that forced boat rescues Bushfire closes Sydney's Royal national park as heatwave grips NSW
(about 4 hours later)
Blaze contained as New South Wales endures hot, dry temperatures and large bushfire burns near Tamworth Blaze contained as most of state swelters through temperatures above 40C, with the heat set to continue
Australian Associated PressAustralian Associated Press
Sun 21 Jan 2018 04.22 GMT Sun 21 Jan 2018 08.12 GMT
First published on Sun 21 Jan 2018 01.20 GMTFirst published on Sun 21 Jan 2018 01.20 GMT
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The Royal national park south of Sydney will remain closed for the next two days after an out-of-control fire tore through bushland, forcing hundreds of hikers and tourists to be rescued by boat. Firefighters continued to battle two out-of-control blazes across New South Wales while investigations were under way into a suspicious fire which tore through bushland in the Royal national park south of Sydney.
The blaze, which appears to have been deliberately lit on Saturday, had burnt through more than 600 hectares by Sunday afternoon. The Royal national park was set to remain closed on Monday after a raging bushfire, which appeared to have been deliberately lit on Saturday, forced hundreds of hikers and tourists to be rescued by boat.
Firefighters worked through the night to contain it and were continuing to carry out backburning on the eastern side on Sunday, the Rural Fire Service said. Firefighters with the help of a large air tanker worked throughout Sunday to contain the fire which had burnt more than 1,400 hectares of land.
Firies were also paying close attention to a large bushfire near Tamworth in the state’s north that had already destroyed more than 48,000 hectares, as winds strengthened on Sunday afternoon. On Sunday evening the blaze continued to burn along Sir Bertram Stevens Drive between Garie beach and Wattamolla beach, the NSW Rural Fire Service said.
“No properties are under threat,” the RFS inspector, Ben Shepherd, said. The fire was being treated as suspicious with an investigation under way, a NSW police spokeswoman said.
But increased fire activity had put pressure on a number of containment lines, he said. The blaze, which was burning in the Pilliga forest between Coonabarabran and Narrabri and to the east of Baradine, was at a “watch and act” level. The federal treasurer, Scott Morrison, who lives in Sydney’s south, paid tribute to the firefighters who worked throughout the weekend to bring the blaze under control.
Meanwhile, the Royal national park will remain closed on Sunday and Monday with access only for residents. “They’re out there in what is a very hot day in Sydney fighting those fires, they would otherwise be at the beach be with their families, sitting around the pool, attending family events, doing all of those things that the rest of us may be doing today,” Morrison told reporters in Sydney on Sunday.
Hundreds of visitors to the park were rescued by boat from beaches after becoming stranded. “They are out there putting themselves at risk to keep our community safe ... I want to thank them very much.”
“For those that left vehicles at Bundeena yesterday. You can return using the Cronulla Ferry service and drive out of the park,” the New South Wales RFS tweeted on Sunday. Further south in the southern tablelands, a bushfire had burnt more than 1,100 hectares at Bannaby and on Sunday afternoon was at watch and act level. The fire had increased in activity and embers created spot fires in the area, the RFS said. A water bombing aircraft was helping firefighters to prepare and protect rural properties as the out-of-control fire continued to burn.
The blaze was being treated as suspicious with specialist investigators heading into the park on Sunday, a NSW police spokeswoman said. Firies were also paying close attention to a large bushfire at Dandry in the state’s north that had already destroyed more than 51,000 hectares. The blaze, which was burning in the Pilliga forest between Coonabarabran and Narrabri and to the east of Baradine, was at a watch and act level.
The RFS deputy commissioner, Rob Rogers, said it was lucky nobody was killed in the blaze and it was infuriating that someone could think of starting a fire on purpose. NSW has endured hot, dry temperatures for several days, with Monday expected to bring no relief.
“It is absolutely frustrating as I think the average person in the community finds it’s just unbelievable that people would do that. Given there was more than one fire obviously we are concerned about how the fires started,” he told the Seven Network. Total fire bans were declared for the southern ranges, central ranges, greater Hunter and north western regions on Sunday and would continue on Monday for the southern ranges, central ranges, greater Hunter and greater Sydney.
“And look at the cost – this firefighting effort will cost millions of dollars. There is a cost of these things, let alone that trauma to the individuals,” he said. On Sunday most of NSW sweltered through temperatures above 40C, with residents in the state’s outback copping the worst of the heat.
NSW has endured hot, dry temperatures for several days, with Sunday expected to bring no relief and more hot weather at the end of next week. Hay in the Riverina region was the hottest place in NSW, reaching 45.4C, while a blistering 40.3C made Penrith the hottest location in Sydney, the Bureau of Meteorology said.
Total fire bans had been declared for the southern ranges, central ranges, greater Hunter and north western regions on Sunday. Much of central and western NSW reached temperatures at or above 40C on Sunday after experiencing similar levels on Saturday.
Bushfires Temperatures were expected to increase in western parts of Sydney on Monday and remain above 40C for NSW inland areas, meteorologist Jordan Notara said.
Residents in far-north NSW should brace themselves for temperatures above 45C on Monday.
“We’re not having any major changes in temperatures, unfortunately, generally over the whole state the severe heatwave is predominantly going to continue,” Notara said.
“Inland parts are seeing temperatures generally staying at 40C for the next seven-day forecast.”
New South WalesNew South Wales
Bushfires
SydneySydney
(Weather)(Weather)
SydneySydney
(Australia news)(Australia news)
Australia weather
Natural disasters and extreme weather
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